There were many ladies present, no doubt the wives of various officers and local men of importance. Mixed in among the latter were merchants, and other officers of varying ranks.
Adara walked around the impluvium in the middle of the atrium floor and felt the cool air from the roof coming down through the hole in the ceiling. A slave came to remove her cloak for her. This caused her to feel vulnerable, and she crossed her arms, the serpent bangle Lucius had given her in Numidia jingling as she did so.
She walked slowly among the other guests, searching the room for the empress, or even Julia Maesa, her sister, but she could see neither. She followed the steady flow of visitors down a corridor lit by braziers, accepting a cup of wine from a passing slave. At the end of the corridor, she c
